Yo Yo Dieting

Monday, November 26, 2012

Today, as I begin losing weight for the third time in my life, I know what I am. A yo-yo dieter. Twice, I have lost more than ten pounds. Twice, I have gained back every ounce.

Some studies report that yo-yo dieting is less healthy than being fat and staying that way. Are my weight loss efforts so poorly executed that I actually do myself more harm than good?

I don't know butI like to think that good habits practiced often enough will become learned. I like to think that I will make different choices this time in order to help me succeed.

This time, I promise only to weigh myself once a week. My daily goal will not be to see a new number pop up on the scale. I will not approach this weight loss effort as though I am playing some pin ball game that I can quit once I win. Instead, my goal will be to evaluate myself at the end of each day and determine which of these three things occurred.
1) -- I ate only what I intended to eat.
2) -- I ate more than I intended to eat but I kept track of everything I ate.
3) -- I ate more than I intended to eat but I did not keep track of what I ate (i.e. I lost control).

If I achieve the first or second goal everyday, I know I will succeed in losing weight and maintaining the weight loss.

I also promise myself that I will aproach this weight loss effort one day at time. Like a recovering alcoholic who always tries to do the next right thing, I will try to eat the next right thing.

Good luck with your weight loss. I myself any a yo-you dieter. I've lost my than 50lbs to only put it all back on and them some in the period of 2.5 years. Not fun. This time around, I'm taking the weight loss slow. And eating like a normal person by not cutting my calories down to less than 1200 per day. I'm staying around the 1500 mark. Which I feel I can keep doing over the long run.

Yes, I have done the 10 lb weight loss a couple of times myself. Although, since I joined the Spark family in May 2011, this is the first time I have been tracking what I am eating and so far so good as I'm right on the edge of making my goal weight.